Laura House

Research by, Roger Williams, Mary Anthill, Doug Crew and Roy Crew :- includes updates Sept 2019.

The Photograph ‘Hanham Bus Depot 1920s’ in D G Elliott’s books ‘Stories of King’s Chase Volume 2’ and ‘Picture Past’ shows no entrance to the Hanham Social Club on the front elevation.  It has a side-facing door giving access across the forecourt of the ‘Manager’s Residence and Office’.  The building protrudes six to eight feet in front of the house line.  Coupled with the fact that it has used the side wall of the house as a party wall for itself, this shows that the Club building was added within the curtilage of the house & garden and by the house owners. In the maps this building outline changes between 1841 and 1888, where the rectangle of the club is seen in contact with the house. And thus it appears to have been added while it was still a pub and not let out as a dwelling‑house. This annexe to the pub is not to scale in the 1888 map but a correction is to scale in the 25-inch editions after 1900.  This photo was taken from ‘The Limes’ next door to ‘The Cedars’, now LIDL.

The first name we see is in 1756, and then the report of an inquest held there in 1796. Then in the Tythe Apportionment Roll of 1841 in plot 165 there is only one substantial building. It is named ‘White Hart Inn and Garden’. There can be little doubt that this square block is the same building we see inside Tollgate, the former Bus Depot, today.

          In ‘A Tour of Hanham with Levi Hunter’ [of Martin’s Lane] dated 24/01/1926 he tells F C Jones [see Bristol Records Office], that it was “obviously of 18^th Century construction with cupboards as in Royal York Crescent”. (Built from 1791-1820)   “The rooms at the back had high ceilings and looked older.” It is said that there was a “veranda across the front in 1925”. Levi Hunter 1871- 1935 was the Hunter of Hunter’s Road that we have today.

The Georges Pubs list of 1856 shows Abner Howes, innkeeper at the White Bait pub.

(Bait is a transcript error for Hart, which with their florid script capitals is not surprising.)              But that does not give a location for the pub.

However also in 1856 the will of Charles Whittuck (at The Grange next door) uses the name White Hart for a messuage or dwelling-house that he’s about to purchase.

The first time Laura appears is in 1867 as Laura House [Inst .Mech. Eng. members]

          The Professional Engineer wouldn’t want to be living in a pub   !!

Then we have in 1871 Laura Villa, and in 1875 it is confirmed as semi-detached in the Sale notice. - No Sale occurred at that point. - In1879 a Sale is advertised in the Bristol Mercury. Here the property is 100 perches (⅝ of an acre.) That implies that the whole of the area in tythe plot 165 remains together and includes the Social Club building. The OS map of 1888 shows the new rectangle attached to the west elevation. By 1894 we are back to Laura House occupied by John Peacock Linthorne in Kelly’s Directory.  D G Elliott calls it Villa in labelling the Photograph of 1926 at the Records Office, but he does not use it in his books.

Year	Source	Name
1756 24th June	The Friendly Society of Colliers and Others’ inaugural meeting	at the Sign of the White Hart
1796 May	Press report of Inquest of Abraham Watson, 48, Coalminer.	White Hart Inn	Watson killed in Lynch Pit 6 Feb.
1841	Tythe Roll & Map  (plot 165)	White Hart Inn & Garden	owner Nathaniel Williams occupier William Furber
1841	Census		Sarah Hiscox inkeeper
1851	Census	Blank	Abner Howes Inkeeper
1856	George’s Pubs List	White Bait (≡ Hart)	A Howes
1856	Charles Whittuck’s Will	Dwelling White Hart
1861	Census	No mention of Pub	presume ceased trading
1867	Inst .Mech. Eng. members list   Mark Fryar	Laura House	son in law of M G Stewart below
1868	Western Daily Press	Laura House	WDP 10.03.1868
1871	Census	Laura Villa	M G Stewart
1875	Sale notice WDP May 15th	Laura House Not Sold	Semi-detached
1879	Sale Bristol Mercury	Laura Villa  (⅝ acre.)	[i.e. whole of tythe plot 165]
1888	O S Map. - A large rectangular block built onto the west elevation.	1920s photo, signage    ‘Hanham Social Club’	It protrudes in front of the line of the house.
1894	Kelly’s Bristol Directory	Laura House	J P Linthorne resides.
1926	Photo - Elliott Archive	Bence’s Bus Depot

It appears that after Charles Whittuck bought the pub it was let or sold as a house, but there is no mention of the adjoining hall or Social Club building until 1875 when it only says ‘semi-detached’. The eventual Sale Notice of 1879 mentions Coach-house, stables and other buildings but neither appears yet to be the Social Club.  So we don’t know when the Social Club started operations or when it ceased.

It has been wrongly claimed that the old building is not demolished because it is ‘Listed’. That is to say it is not on the Historic England list. It does not have that protection.

Buildings get listed by the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport after recommendation by Historic England. Local authorities don’t have the power to add or remove buildings from the list.

From the Leaflet by Roy King in the ACCES series for Kingswood Council 1988.

                                                                                                    Roger Williams